6 Lesson 5 Treasure Island
Before you read
• What do you think is happening
on the ship while Jim, Silver and
the other men are on the island?
Chapter 6
Dr Livesy:
When the boats went to the shore, I talked
to Captain Smollett and Mr Trelawney. There
was no wind at all, so we knew we could not
take the ship, even if we wanted to attack
the six men who stayed on the ship with us.
Then we heard that Jim Hawkins was on the
island with Silver and his men. We were very
worried about him.
I decided to take a boat to the shore with
another man we could trust, called Hunter.
When we reached the island, we walked a
little way and then we found a small fort. It
was big enough for about twenty-five people
and was very well defended. It also had water.
Then I heard a shout. I thought that Jim was
dead.
We ran back to the boat and soon returned
to the Hispaniola. I told Captain Smollett and
Mr Trelawney my plan. We quickly put food,
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medicines and guns in the boat.
At the same time, Captain Smollett and Mr
Trelawney said to Silver’s men who were
still on the ship, “We have guns. If you try to
contact Silver, you will be dead.”
They looked very surprised.
I then took the boat back to the beach with
Hunter and another sailor called Joyce. We
quickly took everything up to the fort, then I
left Hunter and Joyce in the fort and returned
to the Hispaniola.
We knew that Silver had more men than us,
but we also knew that none of them had guns.
We thought that this gave us an advantage.
On the Hispaniola, Trelawney helped me to
put food and more weapons into the boat.
Then we called for Captain Smollett, Redruth
and a good sailor called Abraham Gray, and
they climbed into the boat with us.
Our journey back to the island was more
difficult than the others. There were more
people and supplies now, so the boat was
heavy and very close to the water. We had
to be very careful to prevent the boat from
sinking. The wind blew from a different
direction, too, and we were not moving
towards the beach near the fort.
“We’ll never get to the beach!” I said.
“We must keep in this direction,” said
Captain Smollett. “Work hard, be patient, and
we will arrive.” Then his voice changed. “The
cannon!” he called.
I looked round and realised that the men
we left on the Hispaniola were preparing a
cannon. We were moving so slowly that we
were not far from the ship. It would be easy
for them to hit us.
Trelawney stood up with a gun and fired at
the pirates, and one of them fell.
We heard a cry from the ship, and another
from the beach. We saw that the other pirates
Lesson 5
were getting into their boats.
“Go as fast as you can,” said Captain
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Smollet. “If we don’t get to the beach,
we’re finished.”
“They are only using one boat” I said. “The
other men are walking to the beach to wait
for us.”
“It’s a long way for them to run,” said Captain
Smollett. “It’s a race to get there first.”
We moved fast, and the wind was not so
strong near the beach. However, Trelawney
fired his gun again which made us all move
to one side of the boat. It started to sink, but
we were in just three feet of water. It was not
difficult to walk to the beach, but we had lost
many of our supplies in the water, including
some of our guns.
There were now voices in the trees and we
knew that the pirates were near. We had to
get to the fort before the pirates got to the
beach. We all ran as fast as possible and at last
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 6 Lesson 5
we saw the fort in front of us. At the same
time, seven pirates arrived at the other side
of it. The pirates looked surprised to see the
fort and stopped. This gave us time to fire our
guns, and they quickly turned and ran into
the trees behind them.
Before we could enter the fort, we heard
another gun fire, and poor Redruth fell
down. We quickly picked him up and took
him into the fort, but it was too late: he was
dead. Trelawney was very sad. Redruth had
been a good servant to him.
Captain Smollett put up a flag inside the fort
and counted the supplies, then he asked me,
“How long will we have to spend on this
island?”
“In England, I told Blandly that if we were
not back by August, to come and find us,” I
explained.
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“We need the supplies that were lost in the
sea,” said Captain Smollett. “Without them,
we have enough supplies until July only.”
At that moment, we heard gun fire and the
fort was nearly hit.
“They can see the flag,” said Trelawney. “We
should take it down.”
“No!” said Captain Smollett. “We keep the
flag! It will show the pirates that we are not
frightened of them!”
The gun fire continued, but it was almost
impossible for them to hit anyone inside the
fort.
Just then, we heard someone calling.
“Doctor! Mr Trelawney! Captain! Are you
there?”
I ran to the door of the fort and I found Jim
Hawkins, safe and alive!